Visitors soon!

Ahh, the weekend again. How very nice. Last week wasn't too hectic, thankfully. I had a very full day on Monday and Tuesday, but the week slowed down very nicely for me, and Thursday and Friday were pretty good days. The students seemed to be really excited to get started on rehearsals on Monday, so that's good! I am too.

On fridays, the staff plays football (soccer) against come of the older students, and I join in and play. It's pretty fun. Yesterday, however, no students could make it, so it was just staff there. We played a staff vs staff game instead, which I think I liked more than playing the students. I am, as usual, the only girl to play, but I think I hold my own pretty well. It's really good practice too.

Last night we went out with some of my friends from work as it was this one girl's birthday. We went for a drink and then out to dinner. It was really nice, we went for Indian food - my fav!! It was actually a restaurant that my friend, Michelle, and her boyfriend, Christian, had taken us to a couple weeks ago, and we really liked it then. In fact, we got take out a few nights later. So this was our third time eating there actually. We decided to try something new, and I got something called Chicken Tikka Akash. It was the best Indian food dish I have ever had. And for those of you that know about me and my Indian food, that is definitely saying something.

Further on the exciting news front, Pete is coming to visit us very soon - as I'm sure you've read - and we are going to Scotland. To add to people coming to visit though, we just found out that Lisa and Andrew have booked their tickets to come and see us for two weeks over Christmas!! YAY!! We are both very excited to see some familiar faces over here!

Two Posts in One Day - Boom-yah!

I figured that I'd take advantage of the excessive internet access I have at Troë's school and post twice today. (That, and now it's after school and Troë has a singing rehearsal for her play, and I'm bored.) And to make things more interesting for those of you who read this regularly and are bored of hearing about Troë classes and my work - I'll talk about something different.

Movies in Britain. The movies here are different - in several ways.

Firstly, not all of the movies from North America are released in the theatres over here, and they also have theatre-released movies here that never air in Canada. A case-in-point is this new movie "STORMBREAKER" (in all caps, for no reason). It stars Ewan McGreggor, Alica Silverstone, Mickey Rourke and a bunch of other people. I'd never heard of it before coming here, but it was everywhere here when we first arrived: on buses, billboards, Burger King kids meals, and anywhere else we cared to look. It looks kind of "Spy Kids"-ish and John said it's based on a series of kids books that are popular in England. That probably explains why the movie is hyped so much over here.

Secondly, when movies are relased over here as well as in North America, they're released at different times. Usually later times. Yesterday I saw a sign advertising a sneak preview for "The Devil Wears Prada" next weekend. And today a break time some of the teachers were talking about the new Adam Sandler movie coming out next month: "Click". I encountered this phenomenon went I went to Australia, but though that it was isolated to that area of the world. (To me, it makes sense that summer blockbusters should come out during the summer months, regardless of when that is. So in Australia, I didn't find it odd when action-adventure movies were primarily released in the hot months of December and January, during the students two month summer vacation.) England is the Northern hemisphere, just as in Canada, though. Also, England is pretty populous (twice that of Canada) where-as Australia is smaller then Canada.

Finally, when the movies are released over here, often they're called something entirely different. Last week we rented a few of these movies. In Canada, Jean Reno stars as an assassin in Natalie Portman's first movie called "the Professional". Here that movie is called "Leon". In Canada, Ashley Judd, Greg Kinnear and Hugh Jackman all star in a romantic comedy about being jilted called "Someone Like You". Here that movie is called "Animal Attraction".

To complicate things the movie posters and rental jackets usually have different pictures on them.

So when we go the library to rent a movie (which we do) then you often come across movies you;ve never heard of, with covers you've never seen, staring actors you know. So you pick it up to rent, only to realize that you've already seen it.

A Very Productive Teacher

Today is Thursday, and as such I did not have to work at Beales. The schedule gets really weird for the next few weeks, however, and my days off have all been changed around - especially because of our impending trip to Scotland. When things return to normal in November,though, I don't know which weekday I'll be getting off. I like having Thursdays off, so hopefully it will revert to that.

So, seeing as how I had the day off, I decided to try and be productive and went to work with Troë.

Just I as I did last Thursday, I volunteered today in the Math(s) department at Rossmore. Actually, I am technically volunteering right now, as I write this. Apparently every other Thursday, all of this school's Math teachers have a shared free period. Usually, I think they use this time to have important meetings and other department related activities, but today all of the teachers decided to rest and relax during this time - a bonus for me. Last Thursday I had to shadow for all five periods and then there was a prank fire alarm during my lunch period, so I didn't get any down time.

Not that what I'm doing is difficult, mind you. With most of the teachers I'm shadowing I do menial tasks (like handing out rulers and calculators, or collecting glue sticks - that kind of nonsense) for the first half of class while the teacher lectures. The second halves - when the students are working on assignments - are usually more enjoyable. During these times I get to walk around and actually interact with the students in some resemblence of a teaching position.

Nothing I do is very life-altering: I just help the students with their questions when they have problems, and try to modivate them, and keep them on task. And so far I've only shadowed classes where the students are between twelve and sixteen years old, so none of the material has been very challenging. But this type of interaction is what I want experience with. I don't really have any issues with public speaking, and I like to think I'm organized (even if all of my organization is in my head). What I don't have a lot of experience doing, though, is literally teaching the material to the students.

Talking to the students, directly, and helping them work through their problems; that is what I get to do here. It's great.

Soccer fun

The game yesterday was pretty fun. We lost, but nearly. It was 3-2, and it really should have been 2-2. I played sweeper - for those of you that don't know, sweeper is the last defence-man before the goalie. In the first half we scored first, but then I apparently hand-balled it in the crease and they got a penalty shot making it 1-1. I didn't hand-ball it unfortunately, but the ref is always right. The second half we scored first again, then they tied it up. In the last 3 minutes of the game, they managed to get another goal. Damn. I got to play for the whole game though. They all said that I did a good job, even though I thought I played really poorly. Oh well, I guess when I actually play like I can, then they'll think I'm really good!

Yay Weekend!

Yay, Saturday finally. A day without the students. Yes, four weeks to go until half term break. Now I know why there are so many more breaks over here, the teachers need them!

On Thursday one of the PE teachers gave me a number for a new soccer team, since the other one seemed to have not worked out. I called the number and turns out their practice was on that night, so I went. It was so much better than the first team. Everyone was so nice and it was much more relaxed. I joined the team too. It was more of a 'come and see what you think of us' attitude, rather than a 'come and we'll see what we think of you' type thing. I even got a team jacket! We have a game tomorrow which I am going to. I may not get to play though. You know how when you watch pro football (soccer) on TV and they are only allowed 3 subs? Well, apparently every team is like that here. Weird. So I may or may not get to play, we'll see. I am going, but I am also a little nervous cause I found out that we are actually playing the other team that I went to the practice of last week. Yikes! Well, their second string anyway.

Why does no one write to us?

Today was really 'rubish', as people here would say. The kids were really quite 'naughty'. I still find it funny when teachers and students use that word, but it is always used to describe poor behaviour. 'Have I been naughty, miss?', 'He's been really naughty', etc. Anyway, today really sucked, behaviour-wise for students. I only had three classes today, but that was really enough.
Adam came to school today though, that was kind of cool, but I didn't really see him a lot during the day cause our schedules were so different. He was volunteering in the math department, and I think he had an interesting day all together.
I suppose I don't have a whole lot of new exiting things to say, plus I am just really 'nackered' today. I hope everyone is doing well, and I miss you all so much! We haven't really found a cheep calling card yet, so in the mean time, call us!! I would love to hear some voices. Or if you don't want to call, then post a comment or e-mail us. It's really nice when we hear some kind of communication from back home.
Russ - how's your masters degree going?
Kev - found a job yet? and Kim - how was Niagra falls?
Heino - sorry I texted you at a weird time the other day. Adam has started reading that series that you say is better than Song of Ice and Fire, and I will probably read it after him.
Chris - have you got the b-day card we sent you yet?
Sarah A - what did you think of the stuff I sent? Did you get my phone messages?
Sarah T - how's life in Merrit?
Andrew and Lisa - haha. Sanya drunk. Sounds like a good time.

and to everyone, how is life in general?

First, and second, days

Today was my second offical day at Beales, yesterday having been my first.

The job seems decent enough. I'm working on the basement floor of the store, in the housewares department. Most of my co-workers are girls; the store seems to have about 65% women, and most of the men work in the furniture or mens-wear departments. I'm not the only guy in housewares, though, there is one other. Also, about half of the the staff seem to be middle-aged and have worked for Beales since they were teeneged. The other half of the staff is teenaged. So, I'm definitely in the minority being a twenty-something guy in my department. That's okay, though.

The work itself is really easy. It took less than a minute to learn how to use the till, and the area I'm responsible for itsn't too large. I don't know all of the intricate details about each pot and pan, but I cook quite a bit so it's not like the stock is foreign to me. It's just a matter of learning all of the British brand names and slang terms.

Today I spent the day working in the stock room. The store is doing a stock-take (British slang for inventory) next week, and the housewares stock was a mess. None of the staff even wanted to go into the stock room (not that you could very easily anyway). I was thrilled to re-organize in the stock room, though, (I'm pedantric, remember) and now I know so much more about the products Beales sells.

The set-up isn't too bad: I work five days a week - with Sunday and another day (usually Thursday) off. I get twenty-one paid vacation days a year, and after six months work I'll be allocated nine sick days a year (not that I'll need them). Starting next month I'll be entitled to a 25% discount on most stock, and I'll be allowed to buy eighteen items of clothes at 45% off, as a uniform allowance. Everyday I work from 8:45am to 5:35 pm (the store is open from 9 till 5) with two 20 minute unpaid breaks and an hour unpaid lunch.

I've just been coming home on my hour long lunch break, seeing as how the store is less than a ten minute walk away. So I get to stretch out and relax at home for lunch everyday, which has been quite nice so far.

We're off to see the Wizard

Auditions went really well. We've pretty much got the whole thing cast now, just have to figure out the bit parts. I think that it's going to be really good, but I've never done a musical before, so naturally I'm a bit nervous. There's four teacher's working on it, one music, one dance, one for producing, and me directing. The show will be on Feb. 27, 28 and Mar. 1, so if you're in the area...

Soccer on Thursday didn't happen. Apparently there was some miscomunication between me and the girl that was supposed to pick me up. Oh darn, I missed the beep test. I think I am supposed to be going today, but I'm not sure exactly because the coach was supposed to call me last night with some details, but he didn't - I'm not sure I'll want to go again if I don't get to go tonight. That's ok though cause one of the PE teachers here said they know a bunch of teams and could probably find one for me.

I did play soccer with the staff against the senior students on Friday last week, that was fun. I got drafted (or maybe kicked off, hehe) to the students team before we started - me and another new teacher anyway - because there weren't enough students. It was still really fun. I even knocked down one of my supervisors, and everyone watching was pretty shocked! I was the only girl playing too.

Students are getting a bit better. Some just don't bother to show up, which is actually better because then they don't disrupt the class. I have kicked out several kids from class though. Two yesterday and probably 4 on Friday. None today though, so that's good.

I guess I'll go get back to work though. I have four more kids coming at lunch to audition for me, and then I can finish the cast list.

What do math proofs have to do with retail?

I had Induction training at Beales today. It was alright I suppose.

It started out amusingly enough. It was to start at 9:30 and I got there at 25 minutes after (so hardly early), but I was the first to arrive. There were eleven scheduled to attend - I was not on the list for some reason, but that didn't really matter, especially as there ended up being only nine of us anyway.

We were an odd mix for sure; the oddest group I've ever been a part of. Most of the people there were in their thirties, and I was the only non-Brit. There was a sixteen year old boy (who just finished high school last June), and there were two people who looked to be in their sixties. Also I seemed to be the only one who hadn't already started actual work at the store. Everyone else had employee numbers and name badges and had met all of the important staff. This was made embarrassingly clear during the meet-and-greet portion.

The assistant human resourses lady who ran the meeting, Jenn, was in her late twenties and quite attractive. I mention this only because it made for endless amusement as the sixteen year old boy kept trying to flirt with her.

The first hour of the morning was spent going over boring company protocol and mission statements and store history, and all of that nonesense. The typical stuff I've heard a dozen times before. The history sections were somewhat interesting: The store I'll be working at was the first Beales store. J. M. Beale, the founder of the company, was later a mayor of Bournemouth. Beales is 125 years old next month. This store was blown up during the second world war and had to be rebuild in the fifties.

For the most part this was bearable, except that one midaged lady, Clare, kept interupting the Power Point presentation (Power Point, I know) and interjecting her own personal stories. All of these stories sucked. All of the stories drew attention to the fact that she is the new manager of a concession area for LV (some womens clothing line, I presume). And all of the stories mentioned how she had spent the last three days in Swansea (which I now know is a city in Wales).

By the time we had reached Clare's eighth or ninth pointless story, we had processed to a sales orientation with some other lady. Her job was to teach us all how to sell stuff. Not in detail, or in specifics. But she talked to us as if the concept of selling items was a foreign idea. Honestly! I was the second youngest person in the room, and by the way most of the others acted and talked - and based upon the positions they now held at the store - three of them were new department managers - I was probably the second poorest qualified person in the room too. And I learned nothing new.

It was the worst hour and a half of my entire professional career life. At one point (Clare was telling another pointless story) I was seriously contemplating walking out. I could find another job - no problem - I supposed. I don't really like retail anyway. The only thing that kept me there was that the thirty-something black lady in front of me - the professional who is now the manager of the lingerie department - turned around during Clare's babbling, looked right at me, and made a funny face. Honestly. I almost burst out laughing, right then and there. She made it quite obvious that she didn't give two licks about Clare either, and was also quite bored. Then the sixty-ish lady next to me smiled and gave a nod assuring us that she left the same way.

Following the sales discertation, we had a fifteen minute break while Jenn tried to find the next presenter. Immediately Clare seized this as an opportunity to start up about the hotel she stayed at in Swansea, but she only got five words out when the lingerie manager loudly asked me want Canada was like. I resonded loudly, and inside of twenty seconds no one was listen to Clare - except Clare. I kdi myself to think everyone was as interested in what I had to say as they seemed - most, I'm sure, just say it as an opportunity to ignore Clare - but the break-long chat about Canada (and other foreign countries) really re-energized my interest in working at the store.

Following the break we had a safety meeting by way of another Power Point presentation. This was much more enjoyable do to sheer comic content. The presenter, Jason, is the head of the store's Health and Safety Commitee. He's in his early forties, and he doesn't understand computers. During one spot of technical difficulties the sixteen-year-old gratitously offered to go and find Jenn. then, without waiting for a reply form anyone, just up and ran out of the room. Once we got back on way and Jason is fighting his way through pages illustrating warning labels, he decides "bollocks to the computer". So he just tells us what to do if the store catches fire (leave the customers and go meet at McDonalds) or if there's a bomb threat (leave the customers and go hide in the sub-basement - the only part of the store to survive WWII).

Then Jason gives us a quick tour of the store (we skip the floor that Clare will be working on because Jason insists that there is nothing worth viewing on it) and tells us we can go home because he's going for a smoke break to fill up the final ten minutes he's supposed to be talking to us.

So I get to go home and watch "King of Queens" (the only thing on televison that's not British, and therefore, by defalt, the only thing decent on). No a bad end to a training day in my opinion.

Oh so sore...

I am so sore from soccer last night. We ran so many lines it's not even funny. Push ups, sit ups, crunches, explosions, you name it. It was more than quite a work out. The girls said it wasn't a normal practice though, so that's good. I'll certainly be in good shape if I continue. I get to go back on Thursday, but I'm not even sure I want to.... I going to have to do something I haven't done since grd 8 PE... yeah, the beep test. Stop laughing, Andrew.

School and Soccer

Well, a few more days in classes has passed now. I'll tell you, I'm not sure about some of the classes. I have some real little shits. In my friend's class, one student gave another one a black eye. Glad I didn't have that class. Yikes. At least I haven't been told to "fuck off" yet, though it is a popular theme among other teachers. I have had students walk in and out of my lessons, both of my class or not. I have had students absolutely refuse to do anything at all, some who swear and push and kick no matter what you say. It's really great. Fortunately, most of my classes are actually ok. I'm not saying good, but they're ok. My year 10 class is a nightmare, one girl can't get over the fact that another girl may or may not be a lesbian. All she does is insult people left and right, and when I sat down and had a talk with her, I don't think she even realized that she was being rude at all. It was just 'normal' behaviour to her. My year 11 class are quite lovely, in contrast. I had them last today and I can get 3 times as much stuff done with them as any other class, and that level is supposed to be the worst! So thank god, I guess I don't have any of the bad ones in that grade.

I am really quite excited for the school play. The auditions are next Monday. I have had quite a few people come up and sign up for them, and more who came and asked to help out back stage. Many of whom aren't even in drama. I guess it didn't fit into their timetables, but they still wanted to be a part of it.

Tonight I have a soccer practice. I am a bit nervous because after describing my skills over the phone to the coach, he said I am probably not up to par with his team, but that I should come out anyway so that he can see my skill level in person. Then he can suggest another coach to call if I actually am accurately depicting my skills. I am so nervous of making a fool out of myself. I'll let you know how it goes.

John

John came to visit this weekend. He arrived Friday evening after only getting mildly lost on his way to our flat. We didn't mind, though, seeing as how he brought us his old TV/DVD from Uni for us to use for the year. We broke it in Friday night and watched "the Mexican".

Overall we had quite a good time this weekend. We've hardly been here long enough to have a complete lay of the area. But John was a good sport and played along nicely as we tried to take up the entire day Saturday exploring the relatively small area around the Triangle and the Square. (Not every area of Bournemouth is named after a geometrical shape - just the popular ones.)

We went to Corinander,an excellent Mexican restaurant, for lunch. (http://www.coriander-restaurant.co.uk/) In fact, we were quite surprised at how Mexican food is better in Britain then it is in Canada. It was fairly inexpensive (by UK standards) and came with two courses. Adam tried British Mexican chicken wings - not as good as Canadian chicken wings- while John and Troë both had delicious desserts - Strawberry Pavlova and Chocolate Nachos, repectively - both amazing.

Killing time in the afternoon was actually not that difficult once we decided to take in a street performance in the square. The show consisted of a man doing a spot of juggling - which was quite impressive. At the end he juggled a machetè, bowling pin, and apple whilst riding a unicycle about twelve feet off the ground. The only problem with his show was that it ran for the better part of an hour but only contained about ten minutes worth of actual tricks; the rest was annoying filler banter. On top of that, we arrived while he was setting up, and stood around for fifteen minutes before it even started. So we spent over an hour watcing a fool make inappropriate jokes and argue with a small group of children about where they could sit. Overall, it was kind of pants.

But all was not lost. We managed to salvage the day with a flurry of Carcassonne playing. We introduced the game to John when we visited him last month and he's been itching to play again since. The weeks of anticipation didn't manage to improved his game skills, however, as he lost every match. We finished the night off with nachoes (the more Mexican themed events in a weekend, the better everyone enjoys themselves, right?) and a couple of movies.

The adventures continued on Sunday. First we visited the grave-site of Mary Shelley. We learned that she was buried in Bournemouth on our first day here, but we couldn't find the specific grave. This was a bit embarrasing, actually, as we found it inside of five minutes with John. Then in the afternoon we took a car trip to the neighbouring city of Poole and explored its downtown center.

John stayed until late on Sunday. He left within five minutes of winning his first game of Carcasonne, which made us wonder if he visited us for our company or for our game. Somehow he managed to make the return drive in half the time he took on Friday. Now that he knows he can get here in two hours, hopefully he'll visit again soon.

Two of my favorite things.

So far, since we've moved into our new flat, we've been trying to settle in as much as possible. For the most part this hasn't been too difficult. We've found a grocery store, a book store, a place to rent DVDs. But there have been two locales noticeabley missing from our weekly shopping routine, and subsequently two items much missed: comic books and slushes. That is the case no longer. Yesterday, during our explorations with John, we were able to partake in both of these rituals.

Slushes. Despite John's insistance that they do exist in England, I had searched high and low and not been able to find slushes anywhere. I even resorted to a search on www.google.co.uk for 7-11, which, sadly, returned only a large number of webpages containing events happening on july 11th, or november 7th. Nothing about slushes. On Sunday, though, we found a small stand selling British slushes. They suck. They're the type of iced drink that you get at a fair. They come only in fruit juice flavors and have chucks of ice floating (floating!) in a syrup.

Comic books. This was a more perplexing problem. I knew that comics existed and were sold in the UK (my favorite comic writers are, in fact, British). There is a large comic shop in London on my list of attractions to take in. My problem was mainly finding somewhere closer and more accessable to shop at. Comic shops are a lot more rare over here, and Bournemouth, while not a small city, isn't quite large enough to warrant it's own comic store. When we went to Poole yesterday, however, whilst looking for a copy of Carcassonne for John in a mall, we were advised by a geeky store clerk to check out the local comic shop just down the road. My heart literally skipped a beat. Of course, we proceeded there immediately. The store didn't sell Carcassonne, but that's okay. It turned out to be one of the best comic shops I've ever been to. It should be enough to get me through a year without slushes.

I can finish settling in now.

Students of England

Well, I have only had one class (i'll have a full day tomorrow), so I can't really say on average how the students are here yet. But so far, it's about the same as Canada, but they are on the more challenging end at this school - that's for sure.
I had some lippy kids in the hall when I was on monitor duty at break time and before and after school. Some are like 'wow, I like your accent' one was like, 'stupid accent', and few asked me if I was from Australia. Some were just doing stuff cause they knew they could get away with it because I didn't know their names yet. But that always happens at a new place. I had a year 8 class today - which is our equivalent to grade 7. They are the youngest grade at this school. It was really just the usual start, talking to their friends when I was talking, that kind of thing. But they seemed to enjoy the games and intro stuff that I did with them. What was most annoying is that I have a central classroom, so there is a lot of barging in to say hi to friends and knocking on the door and running away. Again, it's only because I don't know their names yet and so they can get away with it unfortunately. I think I will develop some great classroom management skills this year though.
Tomorrow I have four classes, so I'll get a better idea of how things will go.

The streak continues.

I had an interview this morning with Beales. Beales is a large-format department store, very similar to the Bay in Canada. The store I applied at is quite large - six stories. They are hiring for a number of positions.

I dropped off my c.v. - stands for ciriculum vitae (what the Brits call a resumè) - and filled out the extensive application form yesterday around noon. I applied for a full-time position in the housewares department. They called me about an interview only a few hours later, which we arranged to be for this morning at 10:30. I was quite confident before and during the interview, as I have extensive retail experience. Besides that, I've never interviewed for a position I didn't get.

The interview went amazingly, as expected. I was showed around the housewares department briefly by that department's manager and then her and a lady from human resources asked me typical interview questions for half an hour. Not even ten minutes after I left the store, the human resources lady called to offer me the job.

Second day and third

I am in the middle of the third day at the moment. I have to say, not a lot has happened since the first day, only more learning about the system and everything like that. I have had no classes as of yet, nor do I until tomorrow when I have only 1. The students are all at welcome meetings and assemblies and such, so I basically have time to plan and to clean my classroom, which is quite the mess actually.

I think this year will be a very good experience. I am heading up several things (because I am basically being treated as head of the drama department, even if that's not my official title until after Christmas). I am directing a play, which I didn't choose, but I am happy with it - The Wizard of Oz. This is to be presented in late Feb or early Mar. The school is also building a new drama studio and I will be going to the meetings for the plans of it and all that, and I think I may even have some input into the design! Too bad this school isn't in BC cause it would be a really great place to 'set up shop' as I am already head of the department, and I'm getting my very own studio! Don't worry though, even all that has not swayed Adam and I to stay any longer than a year.

John is coming to visit us on Friday for the weekend, so that will be nice. I think Adam is actually getting sick of me singing the little silly songs I get into my head cause we have about 150 CDs that we brought, but no CD player yet. Soon, soon. Also, I got an e-mail from Tiff that she'll be in the area soon. So, I'm not sure when, but I think we'll be seeing her soon as well!

An update

My resumè is now officially finished. Offically.

First Day on the Job

So, today was my very first day of work. (No labour day holiday here.) The students don't start till Wednesday and Thursday, so I won't have any classes until then. Today was actually kind of boring as the morning was spent in a teacher conference type thing about how to improve attendance levels. How fun. Then this afternoon was slightly more exciting where I found out that I am basically the 'head' drama teacher, and as such I am in charge of creating a curriculum to follow for myself, and for the other drama teachers to follow as well. Not overwhelming in the slightest, seeing as how it's only my second year teaching. I got bombarded with so much new information today that my brain is still trying to process a lot of it, and I've actually probably forgotten most of it already. I think I have something stupid like 15 different classes, and I might even have to teach CAPP! But I think she said probably not, so I really hope not. It's a 'home room' type class though, and a lot of teachers have home rooms, so it's not out of the ordinary apparently. The school is also bigger than I thought. Today I went in several different buildings and sections that Adam and I did not discover last week. Also, I heard from several other teachers there that this is quite a challenging school and they were asking, 'so, you think you're up for a challenge, coming to Rossmore, eh?' Great. Thank goodness I got to come home to relax after, instead of a hostel or something.

Adam has not found a job yet. Though I'm told he's almost done his resume.

As for other things... I read through the shower instructions, and I'm sorry to say, they are mostly to do with how to turn it on and what to do when it doesn't work. There are no instructions on how to wash yourself. But don't worry, Clay, I'm sure you're doing just fine, I don't hear Caran complain of any smells usually. The shower is different here though. You have to flip a breaker on before you start, then there is a pressure dial and a temperature dial, which you set before you hit the 'start/stop' button. Weird. Nothing like a facet handle or anything. And, our sink is actually the first one I have seen so far that has the cold and hot water tap combined into one.

Our New Flat!!!

So... we are FINALLY moved into our new flat. Probably the shortest 'un-pack' time ever! It's really nice though, maybe even worth the wait. Let's have a tour, shall we?

We'll start as you enter the front door. The bathroom is the first thing on your left. The floor is a laminate that looks like hard wood flooring. The washing machine on the left of the photo also doubles as a dryer. The toilet, sink and shower are all brand new... there was even an instruction manual in the shower.

Back in the hall way and to your left again (so straight from the front door) is our living room/bedroom. In case you didn't realize, our new flat is a studio size apartment. The bed, new again, is against the wall to the left. The closet has sliding mirrored doors (to the left of the bed) and is really quite big, especially since we were only able to bring half our wardrobe.

The couch is in the middle of the room and faces the soon to be TV on the right. It is beside our kitchen table built for two, also brand new. Don't worry about the size though, we can always find room for visitors!

Finally, the kitchen is on the right of the table. The countertops are also new and the flooring matches the bathroom. We have bright orange dishes (you would love them, Saby!) and an orange design with a kitty on our back splash above the sink. We also found an instruction manual inside the fridge, so we think it's new as well. Definitely more cupboard space than we'll need, but that's ok.

It's a little small compared to our last apartment, but we love it so far, and we can't really see that changing. You'll all have to come visit to see it in person!